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Nearly half of Latvians believe EU membership brings more pros than cons: survey

Xinhua, September 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 49 percent of Latvian residents believe European Union(EU) membership of their country brings more pros and than cons, a survey published on Thursday showed.

Meanwhile, 29 percent of those surveyed said that there are more cons than pros of Latvia's EU membership, while 22 percent did not have a point of view on the matter.

This is substantial increase in pro-EU residents. In 2013, only 37 percent of residents said that EU membership brings more pros and than cons, but in 2014, 35 percent of residents had the same opinion.

As for the main advantages that EU membership gives Latvia and its people, 57 percent of respondents mentioned improvements to environmental, utilities, transportation and other infrastructure, 32 percent mentioned the improvement of the Latvian economy as a whole thanks to EU funding, and another 32 percent mentioned assistance in helping to develop the country's agricultural industry.

Compared to 2013, there have also been a greater number of respondents who said they have observed improvements in infrastructure in their cities of regions due to EU funding -- from 30 percent in 2013 to 44 percent in 2016.

The survey was commissioned by Baltic International Bank and conducted by SKDS polling agency from Aug. 6 to 16, surveying 1,002 respondents between the ages of 18 to 74 throughout Latvia. Enditem